Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer
TorkLaw is home to highly experienced Seattle personal injury lawyers that can provide legal help and advice in the wake of a personal injury incident. As a leading law firm in the city, we offer legal representation for the following types of personal injuries:
- Car accident
- Motorcycle Accident
- Wrongful Death
- Product Liability
- Slip and Fall
- Pedestrian Accident
It is crucial to seek professional legal help in the wake of a personal injury. In many cases, you can sue the party whose negligence caused your injury. With a good lawyer by your side, this may lead you to receive fair compensation for your injury. The compensation goes towards covering medical costs, lost wages, property damage, and any other losses you sustain due to the injury.
What is Personal Injury?
A personal injury, in legal terms, is an injury you suffer due to the negligence of another person or entity. Examples include the injuries caused by a reckless driver, a poorly designed staircase, a pothole in the road, a missing railing at the workplace. If another party’s negligence can be demonstrated, you can recover compensatory damages for your injury.
Negligence is a key concept in all personal injury cases. In some cases, negligence is quite clearly demonstrable, whereas, in others, negligence may be shared by more than one person or entity. For instance, if you ran a red light and another driver was recklessly driving, which led to a crash, both will share some degree of negligence. This is where the concept of ‘comparative negligence’ is used.
Comparative negligence is where you can seek compensatory damages in a personal injury according to the degree of negligence of the other party. For instance, if the other driver is found to be 80% at fault, you will be entitled to 80% of the total damages. Seattle follows the pure comparative negligence law of the state of Washington. This is in contrast to many other states where the plaintiff can’t recover compensation if his or her share of negligence exceeds 50%.
Seattle Personal Injury Statistics
Road accidents remain one of the most common causes of personal injury in the city of Seattle. Data from the Seattle Transportation Department shows that in 2018 alone, 10,249 collisions took place on the city streets. One hundred ninety-one collisions involved fatal or serious injuries. Of the total collisions, 69 were pedestrian accidents. Motorcycle accidents across the state result in an average of 446 fatal or serious injuries every year. Many of these collisions and the injuries caused by them are a result of someone’s negligence, which means that they are preventable.
Every year, wrongful deaths, faulty products, and slip-and-fall incidents also result in a large number of injuries city-wide. The silver lining is that if an injury has occurred due to the negligence of another person or entity, you may be able to recover fair compensation to cover your losses. However, you will need the help of experienced Seattle personal injury lawyers to receive the right amount in time.
Common Types of Personal Injuries
A wide range of personal injuries is covered by the law. Here’s a look at the most notable types of personal injuries:
Car Accidents: Car accidents are one of the most frequent causes of personal injury. Injuries sustained in car crashes can range from minor to serious or even life-threatening. When you are involved in a car crash, it is important to take the right steps. These include staying at the scene of the accident, cooperating with law enforcement, gathering relevant evidence, and making sure you get legal help as soon as possible.
Motorcycle Accidents: Motorcycles are fun to ride, but they come with a higher risk of injury. Facts back this as although motorcycles account for only 3% of road traffic; they are involved in 15% of all road fatalities across Washington State. This is because even a slight imbalance or collision with another vehicle is enough to crash a motorcycle. Motorcycle accidents are often caused by failure to yield right of way by other vehicles. This is why victims of motorcycle accidents often have a solid claim to compensatory damages for their injuries.
Wrongful Death: When a person dies due to the intentional act or negligence of another person, this is known as wrongful death. If you lost a loved one in this manner, you could file a civil lawsuit against the guilty party for compensatory damages. Typically, such a lawsuit can be filed by the family members of the deceased. In Washington State, the spouses, parents, children, and other beneficiaries of the deceased can seek wrongful death damages.
Product Liability: Product defects such as brake malfunctions in cars or software failures in machinery can cause catastrophic injuries. When that happens, the injured individuals can seek compensation from the manufacturer or an entity responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the product.
Slip and Fall: Slip and fall incidents can result in injuries to the hips, backbone, spinal cord, or other body parts. Injuries caused by such an incident can range from mild to very serious. If you suffer a slip and fall incident at the property of another person caused by the negligence of another, you can sue the negligent party for compensation. Damages in such a case cover medical costs lost wages, pain, and suffering, and more.
Pedestrian Accident: Pedestrian accidents are often caused by driving who are speeding, running a red light, or reckless ignoring a street crosswalk. Such accidents are particularly dangerous as they can result in fatalities or serious injuries. If you have suffered such an accident or lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident, we can help you recover fair compensation from the responsible driver.
What is Covered by Personal Injury Damages?
If you have suffered a personal injury due to the negligence of another party, our Seattle personal injury lawyers can help you recover suitable compensation. Damages in personal injury cases typically cover the following:
Medical Costs: Compensatory damages in personal injury lawsuits cover the complete medical costs you incur due to the injury. This includes costs of doctor’s visits, in-hospital expenses, the cost of prescription medicine, as well as the money for any related therapies, treatments, or medical devices you may need. It also covers the expected future medical costs of your injury.
Lost Wages: Personal injury claims cover lost wages as well. This applies when an injury effectively prevents you from continuing your work. You can recover a portion of the wages you would have earned, had you not been injured. You can also apply for lost earning capacity damages if the injury permanently prevents you from making a living.
Pain and Suffering: Injuries result in physical pain, which can be short-term or long-term. Under Washington State laws, you can seek pain and suffering damages.
Property Damage: Compensation for personal injury also covers the damage to your property, such as a car or a laptop. However, it applies only to such property loss as is affected by the incident that caused the injury.
How Our Seattle Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help?
Here at TorkLaw, we help you seek fair compensation for your personal injury in Seattle. Our attorneys closely study your injury and the related facts to determine what laws and statutes apply to it. We then help formulate a claim that seeks the maximum amount of compensation you can seek for your injury. We also work on a contingency basis, which means that you don’t have to pay us anything until we win fair compensation for you.